Summary: When escorting Neville Longbottom to buy a new wand, Remus goes missing. It is up to our heroic Potions Master to find him before moonrise.

Author's Notes: A 'I must mate with you or else ' fic with a twist.

Dedication: For MusIgneus, whose Master and the Wolf entry "Male Bonding" ) was the inspiration for this fic.

Beta: Mermaid3290

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Chapter 1

Enter stranger, but take heedOf what awaits the sin of greedFor those who take, but do not earn,Must pay most dearly in their turn,So if you seek beneath our floorsA treasure that was never yours,Thief, you have been warned, bewareOf finding more than treasure there.

J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Page 56-7.

Severus marched through the burnished bronze doors of Gringotts Bank, ignoring the goblins who bowed at his arrival. He pushed through the second pair of silver doors, and strode into the marble hall.

'Blasted werewolf,' he thought as he was forced to join the queue in front of the long counter. 'Trust Lupin to botch up a simple assignment!' he fumed inwardly.

Remus Lupin had disappeared three days prior, after being charged with the straightforward task of taking Neville Longbottom to be fitted for a new wand. The boy's grandmother had suffered a heart attack after learning of his exploits at the end of the school year. While she was convalescing, her grandson had been moved to Grimmauld Place for his own safety.

Before Longbottom could acquire a new wand, he had needed to call in at Gringotts Bank to retrieve some funds to pay for it. Like most sane people, the boy had been terrified of the small carts which the bank used to transport customers to their vaults. Lupin had volunteered to go in alone.

And he had not returned.

This brought Severus to his current position, standing in a queue in Gringotts, in a quest to find the errant werewolf, as this was where he had last been seen.

It was of utmost importance that Lupin be found. For a missing Lycanthrope on the full moon meant great danger.

The disgruntled Potions Master stepped up to the newly vacated position along the counter. He handed the bank employee a letter. The goblin read it over once, and nodded. "I will have someone take you down to the vault," he said, returning the letter to Severus.

Another goblin appeared and the Slytherin followed him through one of the doors which led out of the hall and down a torch-lit stone passageway. The goblin whistled and a small cart careered out of the darkness and screeched to a halt in front of them.

Severus climbed in and took a firm grip on the cart. The goblin gave it a hard shove, and waved goodbye as the cart carrying the Hogwarts' Potions Master disappeared deep into the London underground.

After a wild and frightening ride, the cart finally came to rest at a small door. Severus climbed out of the cart, and peered at the entrance. A brass plate announced that it was, indeed, vault seven hundred and ninety-four. And yet it had no key hole.

'Brilliant!' he thought. Stepping up to the door he thumped his foot on the ground loudly. "Lupin!" he called.

There was a shuffling sound inside and Severus thought that he may have heard a muffled reply.

"Lupin!" he shouted again, louder.

"I'm here," came a stifled reply.

"Are you injured?" he called leaning closer to the door.

When he didn't get a response, Severus pressed his ear against the door.

This, in turn, was a colossal mistake.

Slowly, the Potions Master's body dissolved and he was sucked through the door.

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